Advice I wish I had been given - what not to buy!

[Caitycat]

Putting this here because this was the forum I looked at all the time (obsessively) when I was pregnant. I worried quite a lot about irrational things and a big concern was what to wear when nursing. I became a marketers dream and bought the following things that cost a fortune and were not worth it!

1. Breast vests - vest tops which stop below the bra so your stomach is covered. Cost £15 each, I never where them, much prefer normal cheap vest top from New Look which I just pull down to feed.
2. Hot milk nursing bras - lovely "proper" bras that would make me feel sexy. But uncomfortable to wear, access holes far too small for me and it's hard to feel sexy when covered with leaked milk so I've resigned myself to not looking good for a few (more) months. Mothercare cotton bras are comfortable, easy access and very washable
3. Lilypadz things to stop milk leaking. These seemed a brilliant idea, especially at first when I seemed to leak through a breast pad in minutes. To be fair they probably are worth a try but I got a rash from the plasticky cup over my already sensitive breasts and I don't know whether the two are connected but my trials of these coincided exactly with developing mastitis - I wondered if it was because they held in milk which would otherwise have leaked out.

The things I really do use are - plenty of vest tops, lots of cardigans, a couple of big scarves for covering up in public. Hundreds of breast pads.

Has anyone else got things they wouldn't buy again in hindsight?

In hindsight I would have bought reusable breast pads way earlier! Didn't expect to be still leaking when DS was 7 months...spent a fortune on disposable breast pads!

Thanks guys I'll be watching this thread with interest. I hate to waste money at the best of times.

A highchair. My little girl never liked it much and wanted to sit at the big table with her brothers. I quickly gave up using it and bought one of those ones you stap onto a normal dinning room chair. This was a fraction of the price and doesn't take up any extra room.

My sister lent me a bumbo which loads of people rave about. So glad I never paid for it because my daughter screamed if I ever sat her in it, so it was never used.

Door bouncer was good, but it is used for a very short time, so just buy 2nd hand or even better borrow one.

Best buy was a large, soft, plastic washing up bowl (to fit a butler sink), from Ikea. I used this as a portable baby bath and even took it swimming to wash the baby in after being in the pool. One old lady (at the swimming pool) commented what a good idea a portable bath was and life would have been much easier if they were about when she had her children. Didn't have the heart to tell her it was just a washing up bowl.

A big expensive travel system.
I was suckered completely in the shops and was only going to have the best for my PFB. You don't need it and they're all heavy and bloody awkward.

Tripp trapp high chair - ikea antilop is a great invention!